Hyderabad/New Delhi: The searing heatwave across the country has killed over 500 people so far with as many as 432 deaths being reported from twin states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.
There was no respite in sight with the India Meteorological department warning that severe heatwave conditions are expected to continue in the two worst-hit southern states.
In AP government's first admission of heat-related deaths, state health minister Kamineni Srinivas said 62 people died of sunstroke on Sunday. Unofficial reports, however, put the day's toll much higher than that.
The region's highest temperature was recorded at Khammam in Telangana at 48 degree Celsius and the temperature at Machilipatnam and Tuni in AP was at 47 degree Celsius.
In Delhi, the maximum temperature was recorded at 43.5 degree celsius, a degree less than Saturday while Palam recorded 46 degree celsius.
The Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO in Delhi, said the searing heat had claimed the lives of 186 people till Saturday, 80% of them homeless. However, authorities in the Capital haven't released any official death figure.
Uttar Pradesh continued to reel under sweltering heat with mercury in Allahabad touching 47.7 degree Celsius which was the hottest in the state.
The steel city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand experienced the hottest day of the season at 44.8 degree celsius, four degree above normal.
Odisha virtually turned into a boiling cauldron as the searing heatwave conditions further intensified today with the mercury rising above 45 degree celsius in nine places and above 40 degree celsius in 19 towns.
The toll in the heatwave in Andhra Pradesh since May 18 rose to 246, after 84 more people succumbed across the state today, according to a senior official of the AP Disaster Management Department.
The figure was based on information available from different districts until 7.15 pm. Prakasam district recorded the most number of deaths at 57, followed by Visakhapatnam(53) and Vizianagaram (40), the official said.
He said 162 people had died due to heatwave across the state as per information available until 10 pm last night. The toll pertains to the period from May 18 until 7.15 pm for the state of Andhra Pradesh, the official said.
Telangana reported death of 58 more people since yesterday, as a result of which the toll went up to 186 in 10 districts of the state, a senior official of State Disaster Management Department told PTI.
Nalgonda district recorded the maximum number of 55 deaths, followed by Khammam district at 43 and Mahabubnagar district at 23, she said. In Hyderabad, two persons have died due to heatwave.
The toll is registered from April 15 in Telangana, the official said.There was no respite from blistering heat in desert state of Rajasthan where Jaisalmer and Sriganganagar districts remained the hottest place recording a maximum of 45.6 degree celsius.
Kota recorded a maximum of 45.5 degree celsius while Bikaner and Barmer registered temperatures of 44.6 and 44.2 degree respectively.
Churu and Jaipur sizzled at 43.8 degree celsius. Jodhpur, Ajmer and Dabok also recorded day temperature of 42, 41.4 and 40 degree Celsius.
(With agency inputs)
